Located in the south western part of Water Country, Kirigakure no Sato has a cool to moderate climate. Being near to the shore and often fluctuating in temperature, the village is swallowed by fog year round, leaving it perpetually moist and dreary. Entering Kirigakure, it’s hard to make a quick judgment of its size. Stone buildings loom like ghosts dressed with sturdy flora disappearing from sight into the hazy countryside.
After the war, Kiri was one of the first villages to recover. Being an island, its physical infrastructure remained mostly in tact. The first order of business was rebuilding the village’s military strength. Previously Kiri had eradicated several clans who tried to overthrow the Mizukage and council elders. Perhaps it was luck, but some of them escaped the purge. Many previously exiled or near extinct clans, seeing Kirigakure weakened, came out of the woodwork and claimed their footholds, building new and better clan compounds and taking seats on the Kiri council. Kiri, realizing they couldn’t afford to refuse them, allowed them back - but they live under perpetual observation. Shortly after, many of the people came to Kiri from the surrounding villages, having not fared as well through the war. While Water Country is still hurting for total population, Kiri appears to be bigger and stronger politically than in the past. Rumors abound of them more or less bullying local nobles and perhaps even the daimyo, though nobody–on either side–will confirm that.
During the recovery after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Kirigakure underwent reform. They did away with their chaotic, bloody past and introduced a new age of military power and structure, adamantly refusing to risk losing their seat as one of the Five Great Shinobi Superpowers. Because of this, students who begin to fall behind in the academy are pushed ever harder; those who can’t keep up are cut out, without second chances. They start training their shinobi at younger ages than any other village, and their genin graduation happens a year or two later than most other villages. Should an individual remain out of work for an extended period of time or fail to meet village expectations, they’re subject to review and the mercy of the Kirigakure council.
Martial Law reigns supreme. In the past Kirigakure’s greatest threats came from within - those days are no more. The village wastes no time in snuffing out even the hint of rebellion or political discord.
The forces of Kiri can proudly call upon the Hozuki, Kaguya, Niou, Terumi and Touu clans in their hour of need. There was a time in which the seven swordsmen were but a faded memory, although that has changed. The swordsman corps of mist has once again risen to prominence to become a feared force. Because drunk, crazy, violent island dudes with swords are dangerous.
Located on the outskirts of Mist village, the Hozuki have been gradually growing in power as a clan. Serving as the guardians and peacekeepers (or ‘peacekeepers’) of the village, the Hozuki have adapted well to Mist’s militarization.
Their clan’s unique talents also make them excellently suited for ambushes and ‘enforcement’ operations; should things turn against their favor, the ability to liquify oneself entirely allows them many options to retreat, regroup, and return with overwhelming enforcements.
Within Kirigakure, everyone knows that the Hozuki can turn into water, but few outside the clan truly understand that ability’s limits. Murmuring of dissent become a terrifying prospect when one imagines that every puddle or drain pipe could contain a Hozuki listening in.
Hozuki begin with 1 less Unique Point.
Hozuki begin with Elemental Aptitude for Water, along with the first rank of Elemental Affinity: Water.
The Hozuki clan’s pride is the ability to liquify their entire body, from bones to organs to hair, turning into living water. Although they normally maintain a humanoid form, there is nothing preventing them from turning into a puddle and slipping under a door or escaping down a drain–though they lose their ability to perceive their surroundings if they don’t keep at least their head in tact.
Effects: Liquifying is a Speed 5 Interrupt (which does not require a roll to succeed), while solidifying is a Speed 0 action. While in water form, the following effects are applied:
You may not liquify (though you can still solidify) if you are suffering from a Paralysis effect which was caused by a Raiton technique. If incapacitated while liquified you revert to a semi-solid, translucent gel-like form. In this state you do not heal at all unless immersed in water, at which point you begin recovering normally.
Pulling in water from all around you and extending your chakra from your watery form into it all, you turn into a mass of animate water which a vague outline of yourself at the center. Despite the jutsu’s name, the water constantly tends to change shape and features, but most who see it can swear they see something demonic formed. This not only offers protection to the user, but also allows them to come crashing down upon their enemies as well.
Effects: You no longer take extra damage from Raiton, and are not stunned by it. Your Physical Damage Bonus is no longer reduced to zero, though you can not utilize any Taijutsu except for Basic Unarmed Attacks and Crashing Tsunami, below. When you first activate this technique you can absorb up to CHA/5 gallons of water from the battlefield into yourself, gaining +Gallons/10 to your PDB and +Gallons/2 in Damage Reduction (both of which do not count Suika’s inherent gallons, as you can not absorb yourself, Xavis). You can hold, and benefit from, an extra CHA/2 gallons of water this way.
The water which you absorb into yourself can not be used by anyone else to fuel Suiton techniques, but can be converted or destroyed (via Boiling or Water Sky Convergence, for example), though this does not apply to Suika’s inherent gallons of water.
Less of a technique and more of just a watery slam of a Hozuki’s body when enlarged and engorged by Masakana Namiochiru, it is nonetheless effective at using the full weight of the water gathered to overwhelm opponents.
Effects: You may move up to CHA/5 additional yards when you use this attack (in addition to the normal movement when attacking), and you may collect up to CHA/5 additional gallons of water into yourself during this movement, assuming they are present on the battlefield. This technique uses your Physical Damage Bonus and deals Blunt wounds.
Putting their hydration into practical, but less-extreme use, a Hozuki can force moisture into a single limb (typically an arm) and give themselves what amounts to hydraulic muscles. The difficulty of this technique comes from how essential it is to properly control the distribution of water throughout the body, but when used properly, this gives superhuman strength.
Effects: This increases your Physical Damage Bonus by X, to a maximum of CHA/30. This bonus is doubled against inanimate objects, up to and including ninjutsu-made walls, such as Earth Shore Return, though it never is doubled against people. This technique’s effects are suppressed whenever you liquify via the Hydration technique, and this cannot be used while Suika no Jutsu is active.
Originally, the Kaguya clan was not much more than a bunch of blood-thirsty, barbaric warriors brought into Kirigakure for their ferocity in battle. Following a failed coup d’etat against the village, the clan was virtually wiped out–for nearly a generation, in fact, it was believed that they had become extinct.
The re-emergence of the Kaguya clan was discovered by one of Mist’s hunter-nin, capturing a renegade ninja who had an unidentifiable body composition. Mist ‘negotiated’ their return to the village, and within a few generations the Kaguya clan had begun its rise to prominence. They were given their own compound and priority in missions, and became, once again, the most feared clan within Kirigakure.
Along with a kekkai genkai that is touted as the ultimate taijutsu ability, Kaguya are feared for their bloodlust and their refusal to surrender. They will often refuse to stop fighting against overwhelming odds, preferring a bloody death to a peaceful surrender and a long life.
Mindful of the Kaguya’s past betrayal, all of the perks given to the clan came with restrictions. All Kaguya are branded at a young age with two dots just above their eyebrows, in the center of their forehead. While not especially well known by those outside of Kirigakure, within the village it is a marking that commands respect by most, fear by many, and suspicion by a few. Many Kaguya shave their eyebrows as well; it’s something of a clan tradition, but by no means enforced.
While there are no official restrictions, in practice the ranks and positions of members of the Kaguya clan are closely monitored. It speaks volumes that there has yet to be a Kaguya hunter-nin. They’re respected, but not trusted.
Kaguya begin with 1 less Unique Point.
Much like Kaguya themselves in battle, their bloodline seems to grow stronger over time, with no apparent upward limit. That a Kaguya’s power grows exponentially when compared to that of their peers is one of the factors that makes them so valuable to Mist–and so carefully watched.
Effects: Whenever you acquire a Skeletal Modification, from any source, you may increase your Stamina penalty by 2 and gain any other Skeletal Modification (which does not have to be one that technique could normally provide). This may be used a number of times per battle equal to your Rank in this ability.
You fire the bones of your fingertips at opponents. They fly faster than most weapons, and rotate quickly enough to literally drill through most defenses before losing their momentum.
Effects: You fire X projectiles, up to a maximum of RES/10 or 10, whichever is lower; your damage bonus for this attack is increased by 0.25 per projectile. This attack deals Piercing damage and Ignores Armor. For the purposes of defending against this technique it is considered a multi-throw, though it is not subject to other multi-throw rules.
This technique’s damage is increased by X*5% for the purposes of dealing wounds. It uses its actual Speed, or X, to determine damage, whichever is higher. Any defenses with a set amount of HP (such as Earth Shore Return) take double damage from Teshi Sendan.
You may take Weapon Focus: Teshi Sendan, which increases its Chakra Cost appropriately.
By manipulating their skeleton, Kaguya are able to extrude weapons made of bone through their flesh, pulling them out the rest of the way and using them in combat. Despite being bones, they are stronger than iron.
Effects: You can create any non-Large weapon from the Equipment section of the PHB, other than bows (arrows are fine). If you wish, you may ‘draw’ these weapons as part of this technique, discard them, or keep them partially extended from your skeleton, ready to be ‘drawn’ whenever you wish. If you are creating a weapon with the ‘Dual’ property, you can create two of them with only one use of this technique, though doing so increases its Chakra cost by 5.
In the hands of anyone but a Kaguya these have a -3 Accuracy penalty. Your own bone weapons have a +2 bonus to their Accuracy when you are using them. Other Kaguya using your weapons receive no penalty or bonus. Though they will safely last the entirety of any combat, outside of it they last five minutes before becoming brittle and unusable.
This technique creates razor-sharp bone spikes all over the user’s body, branching off from the existing skeletal structure. These bones can stop attacks on their own, or if necessary the user can spin in place, turning themselves and the area around them into a veritable death trap.
Effects: This is a melee-range parry with a +1 bonus per Rank of Bone Spurs you have active. If successful, the attacker also takes damage from your Spurs as if they had struck you, plus your Physical Damage Bonus multiplied by the Speed you used this technique at. This inflicts Slashing wounds.
A multitude of bones protrude from the Kaguya’s body, most commonly along the shoulders, elbows and knees, creating sharp spikes that extend outward in several directions, turning their entire body into a weapon. Thereafter, the user can focus on evasion and counter attacking, with minimal movement required to strike at anyone who comes near.
Effects: While maintaining this technique, as a Speed 0 action you may spend 4 AP to attack anyone in melee range using your bones. By raising the cost to 6 AP you can target everyone in melee range. You may attack with Dance of the Willow at most once every 10 IC, and the first time in battle you do so, it is considered a surprise attack.
This is treated as a Speed 8 attack, though it does not allow you to move as part of the attack; you do not increase your IC because of this but that Speed is used to determine viable defenses and the attack’s damage. You can spend additional AP to lower the effective Speed further. Parrying this attack reduces its damage by half and prevents it from inflicting wounds, rather than defending against it fully.
You acquire a Skeletal Modification every time you spend AP to attack with Dance of the Willow, but not when you first use the technique and pay its Chakra cost.
Through the use of Shikotsumyaku, the Kaguya creates a bone weapon from one of the central bones of the body (typically the femur or the spine), which is then augmented further. The resulting weapon is both stronger and lighter than any metal, making it positively devastating in the hands of a skilled Kaguya.
Effects: This creates a Large, Piercing, Slashing Weapon, which can use both Sword and Polearm abilities and techniques. Attacking is a Stamina 25, Speed 16 action. It deals 1d12 damage per Skeletal Modification you have when you create it, and you may take the Weapon Focus ability for this weapon. The weapon lasts the entirety of the combat it’s made in, but only lasts an hour once the combat is over, after which it begins to deteriorate and is no longer usable. Anyone else but you (including other Kaguya) who use the weapoon use its base statistics, listed above, but for each rank you have in certain Skeletal Modifications, its statistics are modified when you (and only you) use it:
The pinnacle of the Kaguya clan’s techniques, this creates a countless number of bone spires around the user, creating an entire field made from their bones which they can shape as they desire. The field entraps and potentially skewers everyone caught in it, and the Kaguya can instantly travel from one bone to another by melding in and out of them.
Effects: Even if someone dodges this technique, they do not escape its area; they simply avoid being skewered by the bone spires erupting from the ground.
You may move anywhere in the radius as a Speed 0 action; You can also increase the Speed of any action by 4 to make it a Surprise Attack (which does not increase its damage). By melding into and out of the bones you can remove any Immobilization penalties from effects which restrain or cage you (so not those from poison, genjutsu, etc.) as a Speed 4 action. While inside your bone field, you may attempt to Hide; when you Hide, you begin at Stealth 2.
If someone attempts to escape the bone field, and you are aware of them (i.e., they are not Hidden from you), you may automatically Interrupt their action with any melee-range attack of Speed 10 or less by moving to them and attacking. If you hit, your attack knocks them back RES/10 yards toward the center.
When used, this technique effectively destroys any other terrain-based effects (such as mud on the ground). Inside the field, the Kaguya has a +5 to Awareness. If this technique is used again when already inside its area, the two fields overlap and combine; nobody already in the field will be damaged again; and the cost is halved, after applying Osteogenesis’ reduction.
After a few hours the bones will grow brittle as the chakra dissipates, beginning to crumble. Within a day there will be nothing left but dust and bone chips.
As the Kaguya fight, their skeletal structure becomes increasingly better-adapted for combat. Every time you use one of your clan jutsu, you gain one of the following modifications. You can apply them repeatedly, their effects stacking additively.
Additionally, every time you suffer a Wound you gain a Skeletal Modification of your choice.
If you wish, you may suppress activation of these modifications. Suppressing any or all of your skeletal modifications is a Speed 0 action. Regardless, once combat has ended these effects all fade within an hour; bones retract into your body, and so forth.
[ Armor ] - You extend your bones to cover vital regions, forming broad, flexible plates. This gives you (RES)/5 Damage Reduction, and can be applied up to 5 times.
[ Blades ] - Numerous spikes and blades of hardened bone protrude from your body in combat-useful ways, such as from your knees, extending past your hands, and so forth. This increases your damage bonus by 0.25 for unarmed attacks and weapons created by Dance of the Camellia, or 0.5 for clan jutsu (including Dance of the Clematis’ weapon), each time it’s applied. This has no limit.
[ Osteogenesis ] - The more a Kaguya fights, the easier it becomes for them to do so. Every application of this modification reduces the Chakra costs of clan jutsu by 2. You can apply this up to 5 times.
[ Realignment ] - You can recover from any Wound, by investing a number of Skeletal Modifications equal to the Wound’s severity: 1 for Minor, 2 for Major, 3 for Severe, 4 for Critical. This does mean that you can choose to immediately recover from any Minor wound you receive by spending the Skeletal Modification you gained from being Wounded on Realignment. Recovering from Wounds above Minor requires you to spend Skeletal Modifications (from the other four types of Armor, Blades, Spurs, or Osteogenesis), which can be from any category, but must be from the same category. You can not ‘save up’ Realignment mods for later use. In the case of Gates, you can not recover from Wounds received by them until all Gates are closed, though you can recover from Wounds gained from other sources while they are open.
[ Spurs ] - Small shards and lengthier spikes of bone gradually cover your body, protruding from beneath your skin and injuring anyone foolish enough to strike you. Anyone who attacks you in melee range takes (your RES)/5 damage if they hit, which can not wound. This damage is also dealt anytime someone uses a Grapple jutsu against you. You can apply this up to 5 times.
The Niou clan possesses one of the most coveted techniques in the shinobi world: invisibility. Despite that, they’ve avoided becoming famous. There are very few Niou; rather than trying to generate a reputation that would have shinobi around the world terrified of their prowess, they downplay and obfuscate their abilities.
Their ‘invisibility’ is most frequently dismissed as more Mist ninja trickery, hiding behind veils of chakra-enhanced fog and ninjutsu. The Niou are happy to keep things that way, and their village quietly encourages this subterfuge. Even within Kirigakure, the Niou are few enough in number to be passed off as just a large extended family, not an actual ninja clan. Niou tend to prefer to adopt in to their clan, and many of these orphans keep their original name, rather than take the clan’s. They may pride themselves on membership, but possessing a different last name makes it that much harder for another shinobi to connect the dots.
Despite their outward appearance of being largely disconnected, Niou tend to have a close-knit companionship with each other, a mutual respect that transcends personal grudges. They are raised to be quietly but firmly loyal to their clan and village, and to prefer reserved confidence over boastful ambition.
Niou frequently gather together to brag of their exploits to one another, simply to avoid doing so to other members of the village, who may not fully understand their invisibility technique–everybody likes to brag, after all.
The pride of the clan, and their most closely guarded secret. This technique wraps the user in a layer of chakra, and projects their surroundings across their skin. A slight distortion is the only indication that anything is out of the ordinary, the technique even providing the illusion of distance.
Effects: You become invisible. While invisible, you may Hide at will, with a +5 bonus; while hidden, you are always considered to be one Stealth category higher than you actually are. When making a Stealth roll, or an Espionage roll to be unnoticed (such as pilfering something, or picking a pocket) you roll 2d20.takeHighest(1) instead of 1d20. Those Espionage rolls also receive a +5 bonus.
Your Dodge rolls receive a similar benefit: you roll 2d20.takeHighest(1) rather than 1d20. This doesn’t apply against area-of-effect techniques.
You lose all of the above benefits against those that can see Chakra (i.e., against activated Doujutsu, which is normally limited to Hyuuga and Uchiha), and are instead considered to be one Stealth category lower than you actually are against them while you maintain this technique.
You project your chakra over another person, granting them invisibility as well. This requires you to make physical contact with them when it’s first applied, and they must remain within (CHA/5) yards for its effects to persist.
Effects: You can conceal one additional person, or person-sized object, with Genshin no Jutsu per Rank. This requires Genshin to be active on yourself, and each additional person or object concealed this way increases its Upkeep by 2. People and objects concealed this way may use your Stealth TN in place of their own; if you’re hiding a group, you make only a single Stealth roll for the entire group.
Wrapping a weapon or held object in your chakra-induced veil of invisibility is easy; unfortunately, that does not extend to thrown weapons, as their invisibility comes to an end as soon as they leave your grasp. This technique exists specifically to patch that hole in the Niou’s invisibility: it allows you to veil one or more thrown weapons in your chakra, keeping them unseen until they’ve struck their target.
Effects: This supplements a throwing or multi-throw attack by making it an automatic surprise attack. Its Chakra cost is equal to half of the technique’s Stamina cost. If used while hidden, this reduces your Stealth TN by only 2 each time it’s used.
One of Mist’s several special operations units, the Swordsman Corps are trained to be Kirigakure’s elite infantry. Militaristic and merciless, only the students who display an abnormal talent or fascination with swordsmanship are selected to be trained by the Corps.
Mist’s swordsmen may not believe their kenjutsu is superior to ninjutsu or typical taijutsu; some do, while most admit it’s simply a very specific focus. Most, however, will very adamantly reject the concept that natural talents or abilities, such as bloodlines, can match their rigorous training.
A disproportionate number of the Mizukage’s honor guard tend to be members of the Swordsman Corps.
Members of the Swordsman Corps begin with 1 less Unique Point.
Any ninja who uses a weapon seriously knows something about it beyond ;put the pointy end into the other person;. Mist’s swordsmen generally understand their weapons, knowing the importance of a sword being well-balanced, and just how to cut someone to make the most of their weapon’s momentum.
Effects: You have a special “Sword Damage Bonus” of DEX/15 (to, as usual, a single decimal point). You may use this in place of your physical damage bonus whenever wielding a sword, if you prefer. Each rank beyond the first reduces the divisor by 1, to a minimum of DEX/12.
Increases to your Physical Damage Bonus do not affect your Sword Damage Bonus. On the other hand, anything which reduces your Physical Damage Bonus (such as many wounds) does not reduce your Sword Damage Bonus.
Members of the swordsman corps do not put as much effort into training with their swords as other ninja do into learning the basics of ninjutsu–they put in more. This rigorous training tends to leave members of the swordsman corp disproportionately grim, and exceptionally dangerous.
Effects: When using a sword, you use DEX/8 rather than DEX/10 to determine your bonus to Accuracy. Additionally, when making a sword attack you may choose to replace your regular accuracy with an accuracy roll (using 1d20 instead of 10 for the base value). If you choose to use your Physical Damage Bonus with a sword attack instead of your Sword Damage Bonus from the Precision ability (found directly above this one), you do not receive the benefits of Blademaster on that attack.
Once a sword kata has been perfected, you don’t stop practicing it. If it is a ten-minute kata, and you know every step perfectly, you will do it in nine minutes, and then in eight. You learn how to not think about what you’re doing, and instead simply do it. You learn to stop being a person wielding a sword, and become a sword guided by your subconscious.
Effects: Every rank reduces the base Speed of your sword attacks by 1, but increases their damage for the purpose of causing wounds by 5%.
Most members of Mist’s Swordsman Corps have one sword which is distinct to them, and they learn to use it like an extension of their own body, often to the exclusion of other weapons. A select few, however, find themselves with the need or desire to own more than one. If these individuals are considered worthwhile, the Corps will allow them to have another one of Mist’s famous swords forged for them.
Technically, “daisho” refers to a paired set of weapons used by samurai. It’s a very precise word, with deep significance and a great deal of ceremonial importance. Well, at some point in the past some member of the Swordsman Corps decided to present themselves as a samurai, and adopted the term to refer to their own paired weapons. It caught on, because while ninja don’t actually know anything about samurai behavior, it sounds impressive to claim you follow their ways, and now a “Daisho” among the swordsman corps refers to any set of weapons an individual personally values.
Effects: This may only be taken after you already have a clan sword (meaning, you are of chuunin or higher rank). You acquire a second sword, which follows all the normal rules for a clan sword, designed separately from your first one. You may take this talent multiple times, acquiring a new sword each time.
Upon becoming a Chuunin or reaching 2500 XP, a Mist swordsman will receive their own, personalized blade. Most of them will have kept, used, and taken care of a single sword, usually a katana, from their days in the academy–in these cases, they usually opt to have that weapon reforged.
Though they don’t partake in the forging process, the ninja will be there the entire time, and it’s followed by a ritual consecration, and a four-day period of solitary meditation in which the shinobi is alone with only their blade, fasting and subsisting off only just enough water to stave off dehydration. The relationship between sword and swordsman is… interesting. Most swordsmen take care of their blade better than their teammates, and it’s not even considered unusual for them to name and talk to it (if the sword starts talking back, though, that just means they’re crazy).
There’s more to this than lasting effects of the hallucinations from four days of fasting and partial dehydration. Members of the swordsman corps always know where their sword is, in terms of distance and direction. It could be on the other side of the world, and given enough time, they’d be able to track it down.
Many claim their swords are ‘loyal’ to them (others just say their weapons are unique and they’re the only ones who know how to use them properly); and, indeed, a borrowed or stolen sword functions as an ordinary katana, nothing more, in the hands of anyone but its rightful owner.
In the event one of these swords is hopelessly lost (say, tossed to the bottom of the ocean, or thrown into a volcano) a new one can be forged for the swordsman, though this is not done lightly; if given the chance, most would literally fight through hell to get their sword back. It takes four weeks to obtain a replacement sword, after which the original will no longer recognize its former owner. A member of the swordsman corps who accepts a replacement blade when it’s in any way possible to reclaim their old one is viewed with severe disdain by their fellow swordsmen. (Using a regular katana in the meanwhile, however, is perfectly acceptable).
Your sword begins with 20 points which you can spend on it at your discretion. The first thing for you to do is choose its Structure features; this is its basic shape and so on. There are 5 primary characteristics to select here, and each one has a point cost listed next to it; for example, “(2) Small” means it costs 2 of your 20 points to make your weapon have the ‘Small’ tag added to it.
After selecting all your Structure options, you move on to Features. Although prices are in the same format, the layout is different.
Features relate to the true nature of your weapon, as measured by its favorance and balance between Yin and Yang Chakra, according to its chosen construction of its Blade, Hilt, and Tassel, three tiers that you can choose to spend points on. Blade features can be taken at will, while Hilt features require at least 5 of your sword customization points in the associated group; to take a Tassel feature, you must have spent 10 points in that group, and may only take one Tassel feature for your sword in total, even from the same group.
For example, if you spent 7 points on Blade features and 3 points on Hilt features in Yin, you could take either of the Tassel Yin features. You would still be restricted to Blade features for Balance and Yang features, unless you also spent enough points in those trees.
You must spend at least 1 point in one of the three primary trees of Features, and any unused points can not be spent after its construction, and are simply lost.
Every weapon must have at least one damage type. If it has more than one type, you can decide which damage type to utilize each time you attack (though if using a jutsu or ability which requires a certain damage type, you must use that type).
A weapon may have only one size. Size determines both which jutsu and abilities it functions with, as well as its die size.
Only Medium and Large weapons may be two-handed. If a weapon is two-handed, it can’t be used one-handed unless you have the Monkey Grip ability. You may only choose one of these options.
Some swordsmen have more than one weapon. The Dual tag does not actually grant you an additional sword, just means your weapon is optimized for dual wielding (as per the ability). If you take Paired, you get a second weapon which has 15 points to spend normally, and may not take Paired itself.
Not something you spend points on, this time! Of the three primary feature sets below (Yin, Balance, and Yang), determine which one you have the most points in. If there’s a tie, choose one. That determines your sword’s Speed, Stamina cost, and damage dice.
Blade Features
(2) (Small Only) +1 Accuracy, -1 Damage Bonus. Can be taken twice.
(2) -1 Stamina Cost. Can be taken three times.
(1) +1 Bleed. Can be taken twice.
(2) You use CHA/15 to determine your Sword Damage Bonus, instead of normal, with your sword. You can take this feature a second time, lowering the divisor by the Precision ability (to a minimum of CHA/12).
(1) When you Parry with your sword, you gain (SDB) Damage Reduction (which is typically only relevant if you fail); Can be taken four times.
Hilt Features
(1) +1 Bleed. Can be taken three times.
(2) (Requires CHA-based SDB Feature) You use your CHA in place of your DEX for the Blademaster ability with your sword.
Tassel Features
(4) While using Chakra Flow (either version) with your sword, you can parry attacks from your current Chakra Flow elemental strength in the same way you can parry Taijutsu.
(4) As a Chakra +5, Speed +3 link you can replace your sword’s ‘Sword’ tag with any of the following: Polearm, Fan, Chain, by forming chakra over your blade to take the shape of another type of weapon, allowing you to potentially use different jutsu dependent upon other weapon types.
Blade Features
(1) +1d_ damage. Can be taken four times.
(1) +5% Wounding. Can be taken ten times.
(2) Attempts to parry your sword take a -1 penalty. Can be taken three times.
(2) Blocking reduces your sword’s damage by 10% less; taken a second time, 25% less.
(1) Your sword bypasses (SDB) Damage Reduction. Can be taken three times.
Hilt Features
(1) Immobility 1 on hit. You can take this up to four times, which doesn’t change the amount of Immobility applies, but lets it stack up to the amount of times taken.
(2) +1 to Parry rolls. Can be taken twice.
(2) Your sword’s dice gain .extra(die size-2). This can be taken repeatedly, each time lowering the .extra value by 1 (from .extra(10) to .extra(9), etc), to a maximum of .extra(4).
Tassel Features
(4) The sword may be held with one less hand than normal. This allows a two-handed sword to be one-handed without difficulty (though does mean it loses its two-handed damage bonus). A sword that requires “no hands” can be strapped to your body somehow.
(4) Parrying with this sword hase its base Speed reduced by 1, and you may parry any disarm attempts with this sword with a +3 bonus, which replaces the normal penalty for parrying a disarm attempt.
Blade Features
(2) (Large Only) +2 Range; attacks with this weapon don’t trigger on-contact effects.
(2) Your sword’s die size is increased by 2, to a maximum of _d20.
(1) Stun 1. Can be taken twice.
(2) Your Sword’s base Speed is increased by 1, it gains Delay 2, and your Sword Damage Bonus is increased by 2 when attacking. Can be taken twice.
(1) When you block while holding your sword, you gain DR equal to your Sword Damage Bonus; this is multiplied by the number of times you’ve taken this feature. Can be taken up to six times.
Hilt Features
(1) Stun 1. Can be taken three times.
(2) While wielding your sword, you can Block as a Speed 4 Interrupt. Taken a second time, your Block’s effectiveness is not reduced by weapons, and any Damage Reduction you gain when blocking from the Yang Blade Feature is doubled.
Tassel Features
(3) Your sword’s Stamina cost is increased by 2, and its damage is increased by +4d_.
(4) Anyone who successfully parries your sword still takes half damage (but no secondary effectS); Your sword’s Stun value is increased by 50% against anyone who blocks your sword.
One of the few clans in Kirigakure that was never victim of the extensive bloodline purges in the village’s past, the Terumi clan came about only after they had concluded. Most of the clan is descended directly from the Fifth Mizukage, from whom they take their name.
Typically red-haired and slender, the Terumi have a slightly exaggerated, but ultimately accurate, reputation for being hot-headed and tending to react strongly (and often violently) to comments about issues they find sensitive. Whether what offended them was something a person actually said, or a simple mishearing on their part, doesn’t seem to mater very much.
Surprisingly for such a relatively new clan, the Terumi have wound up in a position of lore-keepers for the village. Mist’s largest library, and the vast majority of its historical records, are managed by the clan.
Terumi begin with 1 less Unique Point.
Terumi begin with Elemental Aptitude for Fire and Water, along with the first rank of Elemental Affinity: Futton, which includes Katon and Suiton.
Combining Fire and Suiton chakra produces the aptly-named Boil Release, though not all Futton techniques necessarily use boiling water. Some converted Katon instead manifest as superheated blasts of corrosive mist.
Any Suiton or Katon technique can be converted to Futton as a Chakra +5, Speed +0 link, with the following changes:
Futton is weak to Doton, and strong against Katon and Fuuton.
While letting superheated fog roll over oneself isn’t ordinarily beneficial, Terumi have developed a use for the Futton variant of Mekkyaku that is more than just a flamboyant effect, holding the veiling mist in place around themselves to create a personal shield of their element which combines perfectly with Kirigakure’s natural climate.
Effects: While you maintain this technique’s Upkeep you are veiled in a small cloud of heated mist, applying a -2 Visibility Penalty to anyone trying to target you (though your own vision is not obscured by its presence), which stacks with all other forms of visibility penalties, unlike normal, and anyone who attacks you from melee range is scalded by the fog, taking CHA/2 damage for doing so. If it is dispersed (such as from Cleansing Wind), the Visibility Penalty returns at a rate of 1 per 15 IC. The scalding damage only occurs if the Visibility Penalty is at its full strength (whether or not an attacker is actually penalized by it).
The Terumi ability to boil water and alter the pH of steam taken to a logical extreme, this boils all water within a broad radius within seconds, flooding the area with a rising high-temperature vapor.
Effects: X is how many gallons of water are available to be destroyed from the battlefield, up to a maximum of CHA/2. Its Area is centered on you, and has a minimum of 50, but can go as high as X. It uses half your NDB to determine its damage, but deals its damage to everyone in its Area, with a +X/15 to its Accuracy.
The Hidden Mist, and Water Country in general, has a dark past it would very much like to forget. And, while the Touu would just as much like for it to never have happened, they in many ways are symbolic of that dark, bloody past.
When the people of Water Country embarked on their genocide against bloodlines, they were remarkably successful. Shinobi within Kirigakure who possessed distinctive kekkei genkai were suddenly demonized by their peers, and would end up being ‘killed in action’ on routine missions or simply vanish. Several bloodlines vanished forever.
The Touu did not, despite being the proverbial poster children for ‘powerful, dangerous bloodlines’. Their powers manifested at a very young age, and could be used even without ninja training. They weren’t arrogant, but they were special, and that was enough for them to be feared, hated, and ultimately all but wiped out in an orgy of irrational hate and violence.
Decades later, Kirigakure found itself in an awkward position: it wanted to get as many of those bloodlines back as they could, but most shinobi with kekkei genkai were fearful and resentful of the village, at best, and guilt and old hatreds were slow to die down.
The Touu bloodline was forever diminished. The once-proud clan that had faithfully and efficiently served its village was no more; the village was left gathering up tattered shreds and trying to patch them back together, with all the success of a child trying to repair a torn-up work of art before their parents got home. Literally dozens of secret techniques were lost forever.
The Touu of the current generation are few in number, and tend to be cold, aloof, and perhaps a touch more prideful than is warranted. The wholesale genocide of your ancestors by the ancestors of your peers, at the behest of the organization you work for and the country you serve, is a little hard to get over. If people criticize them for being arrogant and thinking themselves better or different than everyone else… well, those criticisms always have an undertone of guilt to them. It’s just as hard for everyone else to wash away that inherited shame as it is for the Touu to forget the taste of betrayal at the hands of those they call comrades.
Touu begin with 1 less Unique Point.
Touu begin with Elemental Aptitude for Water and Wind, along with the first rank of Elemental Affinity: Hyouton, which includes Suiton and Fuuton.
Touu have the ability to use one of the coveted advanced chakra natures: Ice Release, combining the flexibility of water with the penetrating power of wind.
Any Suiton or Fuuton technique can be converted to Fuuton as a Chakra +5, Speed +0 link, with the following changes:
Hyouton is weak against Katon, and strong against Doton and Suiton
This is a status effect. As someone is struck by Hyouton, their core body temperature begins to lower from the extreme cold, slowing their movements and actions. Frostbite inflicts an Immobilization penalty equal to its severity, and for each point of Frostbite someone has, they take 1% of their current Vitality in damage every 10 IC. If they have no Vitality remaining, the damage is calculated and done to their HP, instead.
If someone is suffering from Ignite or Frostbite and is then inflicted with the other, they suffer a Burns X from the sudden extreme shift in temperature, and then both their Ignite and Frostbite statuses are reduced by X, which is the lower of the two effects. (e.g., If you were at Frostbite 5 and were hit with an Ignite 2, your Frostbite would be reduced to 3 and you would receive a Burns 2)
Frostbite from the same source (person) stacks fully with itself; if you suffer Frostbite from different people, only the highest severity applies for both penalties and damage taken. The maximum Frostbite you can afflict someone with is 2+CHA/30, and fades at a rate of 1 per 10 IC (the reduction happens after taking damage from it).
Often considered the mark of the Touu bloodline, even more so than their ability to use Hyouton. All members of the bloodline, even ones without ninja training, exhibit from a young age the ability to mentally control water. They can lift it off of the ground, cause it to float between their hands, and even freeze it with a thought (or, conversely, liquify ice).
For a child, this is limited to what’s nearby and what they can see; for a skilled ninja, they can actually sense the presence of significant bodies of water (which does not include human beings or large animals).
You can create up to (Chakra Control Ranks)/5 gallons of water or ice when you perform a Suiton or Hyouton technique which requires it, respectively, up to the amount needed for its use, for free. When Mizu Souzou is required for more gallons of water or ice beyond this amount, its Chakra Cost is reduced by 5, and if you can reduce its Seal Speed to 0, you need not make handseals for it at all.
You may take a Speed X action, with a Chakra cost of 5+2 * X, to freeze or liquify (CHA/30, minimum 1)*X gallons of water on the battlefield. Ice may not be used in Suiton techniques; it can, however, be used to perform Hyouton (including Suiton technique which you have converted to Hyouton).
You can perform Suiton (but not Hyouton) techniques without handseals, by adding (the base Seal Speed - CHA/10)/2, rounded up, to the action’s base Speed.
Water is gathered from the air and then formed into dozens or hundreds (but ‘thousands’ sounds far more impressive) of long, levitating needles. Those needles are then directed at a single target at high speeds; the sheer number of needles sent to a target from all sides at once makes evasion especially difficult.
Effects: X has a maximum of CHA/6. The gallons of water and/or ice used in this technique are removed from the battlefield.